FIM SUPERBIKE WORLDSBK CHAMPIONSHIP

The FIM Superbike World Championship started in 1988 at Donington Park in Great Britain and soon became established as the foremost production-derived race series on two wheels.

The FIM Superbike World Championship started in 1988 at Donington Park in Great Britain and soon became established as the foremost production-derived race series on two wheels. The mix of affordable global racing on accessible road-based machinery was a seductive amalgam for riders, teams and spectators alike.

Kawasaki was an early winner in the Riders’ Title chase, thanks to Scott Russell in 1993 and more recently in 2013, 2015 and last year. Tom Sykes was champ in 2013 and Jonathan Rea in ’15 and ’16, each on their Ninja ZX-10Rs.

The Ninja dynasty of machines had won 91 race victories up to the end of the 2016 season, starting with Adrien Morillas in the inaugural year of the series. Since then Doug Chandler, Rob Phillis, Aaron Slight, Scott Russell, Anthony Gobert, Akira Yanagawa, Hitoyasu Izutsu, Chris Walker, Tom Sykes, Loris Baz and Jonathan Rea have won WorldSBK races for Kawasaki.

The podium-scoring total for Ninja pilots now stands at 307 from 720 races started. Kawasaki has taken 63 pole positions in that time too.

Kawasaki has been an ever-present manufacturer in WorldSBK racing and from the earliest days to now there have been many rule changes and technical regulations to match and comply with. Several teams have opted to use Ninja ZX-10R machines once again, a testimony to the performance and reliability of Kawasaki machines from the very start of the championship to now.

FIM SUPERSPORT WORLDSSP CHAMPIONSHIP

The FIM Supersport World Championship (WorldSSP) became a full status FIM World Championship back in 1999 and all the main Japanese manufacturers have had won the title along the way.

The FIM Supersport World Championship (WorldSSP) became a full status FIM World Championship back in 1999 and all the main Japanese manufacturers have had won the title along the way. Kawasaki scored top spot in 2001 with Andrew Pitt and then Kenan Sofuoglu won the title for Kawasaki in 2012, 2015 and last season in 2016.

The first Kawasaki race winner in the full FIM WSS Championship came along in the first race of the 1999 season, British rider Iain Macpherson. Andrew Pitt, Fabien Foret, Joan Lascorz, Broc Parkes and Randy Krummenacher have also posted race wins on the middleweight Ninja. Kawasaki has scored 35 individual race wins since 1999.

Like 2016 there will be a two-tier championship inside the overall WorldSSP entry. Some teams will only compete in the European-based rounds of the championship; some will do the full 12 rounds from Australia to Qatar, and a healthy grid is already confirmed. Last year WorldSSP races – one per weekend – will appear at almost all the same rounds as the full Superbike category, with only the American round at Laguna Seca missing from the 2016 campaign trail in the middleweight class.

As always, the chassis of a supersport machine must remain largely as standard, engine tuning is tightly regulated and the control tyres must be approved for highway use – to keep the link to roadbikes as close as possible. Last year’s limited electronic regulations made the championship more open at the top end but Kawasaki was still the champion in both riders’ and manufacturers’ competitions.